Brownsville Safer Than State’s Larger Cities

If the numbers clearly prove border communities are safe, why are we so vilified by politicians?

What the numbers say.

State and violent crime data prove that violent crime rates have remained consistently low in American communities like Brownsville, located along the Mexican border when compared to larger cities in the state.

In 2014, the violent crime rate for Houston was 991 violent crimes for every 100,000 residents according to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report. The violent crime rate in Dallas was 765 crimes for every 100,000 residents.

Meanwhile, the violent crime rate for the Texas border community of Brownsville in 2014 was 304 for every 100,000 residents. Or to put it another way, you are twice as likely in Dallas and three times as likely in Houston to get caught up in a violent crime compared to living in Brownsville.

By comparaison, the violent crime rate in Washington D.C. is 1,244 for every 100,000 residents . . . wow!!

We always knew Brownsville was a safe and friendly place, now we have the stats to back up the claim.

False Perception of the DANGEROUS Texas Border

Despite these facts, the wrong perception of a dangerous border continues to be fueled by strong political rhetoric to completely “militarize” the border.

This has led to a law enforcement (and taxpayer spending) surge of the full alphabet soup including: FBI, DEA, Texas National Guard, DPS troopers, Border patrol agents, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, among others.

Personal Opinon

I feel many may look at the low violent crime rates in border communities like Brownsville and say . . . “see, the border surge is working”.

But I believe that we are a safe community in spite of the surge not because of it. The truth is that Texas border communities like Brownsville, Harlingen, and McAllen are built on a caring and friendly community culture.

Like other border communities, we are stuck in the path of large organized crime that connects illegal drug demand in large U.S. cities with illegal drug supply throughout Central and South America.

Our communities are neither on the demand or supply side of this illegal drug equation, yet we have found a way to rise above it and protect our safe, family-centric communities.